Forum: Integration, crisis and opportunities: the Andean case

(Caracas, November 15, 2000).– Since 1998 all the member countries of Andean integration have gone through severe national political, social and economic crises. As a result, decisions to meet the commitments to opening established in an integration agreement are increasingly difficult. If national industry is protected, jobs are eliminated; if, on the other hand, the country is closed to imports, the automatic response is closure of the borders of the partner countries to Venezuelan exports. Some of the questions raised are: Do integration policies contradict the solution to the crisis? What is most appropriate for Andean countries? What strategies can be adopted which do not wreck the progress made during years of hard effort?

The relationship between Andean regional integration and the economic crises of the partner countries, and the opportunities of integration from a business point of view are some of the topics to be analyzed in the Forum “Integration, crisis and opportunities: The Andean Case” to be held in IESA on Tuesday, November 21 from 8 am to 4.30 pm. The speakers are: Juan Francisco Rojas Penso, Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); Luis Carlos Jemio, CAF, Bolivia; Luis Abugataz, Peruvian Chamber of Industries; Héctor Ochoa, ICESI Colombia; Antonio Francés, IESA professor; Carlos Hugo Escobar, Cativen; Nivario Rancel, Sanitarios Maracay; Hernán Pérez, Mavesa; Juan Pablo Currea, Sánitas Venezuela; and Luisa Romero, minister of Trade and Production.

The forum is sponsored by CAF the Latin American Integration Association